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Jesus told us to address God as 'Father'. In the Acts of the apostles, the apostles never feel the need to use God's name in their preaching. The entire New Testament was written without using God's Name once - even when quoting from the Old Testament. So debate over the 'correct' form of His...

Crossing the Jordan (Joshua 3 & 4) At long last, the Israelites are standing on the east bank of the River Jordan - as close to Canaan as they can possibly get without getting wet. And there they pause, to prepare themselves for what is to come. There is a feeling of tense anticipation in the...

Settling for less (Numbers 32) The tribes of Reuben and Gad (who have been camping close to each other for 40 years) suddenly come up with what they think is a brilliant idea (verses 1-5). The plateau east of the Jordan (which gets more rain and is therefore relatively fertile) has an abundance...

God led the Israelites, but also acted through human leaders (Moses, Aaron, Joshua, etc). Jesus appointed twelve apostles (human beings!) to lead His church. They in turn appointed elders to oversee every church, and in their letters commanded us believers to submit to our church leaders (e.g...

Neither. He was the son of Joseph!

Sorry, but the word 'brethren' doesn't appear in my Bible at all - its only use in modern English (according to my dictionary) is to refer to a community of monks. And the Greek also makes no distinction between 'natural' brothers and brothers in the sense of fellow-Jews or fellow-believers -...

Handing on the baton (Numbers 27:12-23) Like Aaron, Moses has excluded himself from the land of Canaan by his failure to uphold God’s honour at Meribah. With Israel now poised to cross the Jordan, the time of his death is rapidly approaching - and his main concern, as always, is for the...

What do you mean by "the word 'brothers' as opposed to the word 'brethren'"? They are the same word! Only 'brethren' is the old plural form of 'brother', which nobody now uses. There is no change in meaning involved in updating the language, and nobody is being deceived.

Eyes on the prize: five wise virgins (Numbers 27:1-11) In an intensely patriarchal society such as ancient Israel, daughters do not normally inherit any share of the family estate. But a certain Israelite (Zelophehad) has died at some point during the nation’s wanderings without leaving a son...

If James' teaching is incompatible with Paul, then Paul's is incompatible with his own! He didn’t teach justification by faith alone in the sense of a faith that is disconnected from obedience; he expected believers to “demonstrate their repentance by their deeds” (Acts 26:20) and to work out...

I'm sorry, I thought I had made it quite clear: The former (first-mentioned) kind of faith - the faith that produces works - is the kind of faith that justifies. The latter (last-mentioned) kind of faith - the 'faith' that does nothing - is little more than wishful thinking. Dietrich...

The Bride and the guests are never mentioned together in the same passage. The Bride is the Church viewed collectively. She will definitely be at the wedding! The guests are us as individuals. We have a choice, whether to be there or not.

This was one altar amongst thousands. The Athenians (the vast majority, at any rate) were worshipping pagan gods, not the true God. But the presence of this altar seemed to Paul to suggest that a few people were dissatisfied with these deities and were groping for the truth. Bear in mind that...

1) I think you are underestimating Joseph; Matthew depicts him as being unusually generous and willing to do the best for his wife, even before he knew all the facts - so why not her son also? And we are told that he shared Mary's anxiety when Jesus went missing (Luke 2:48). 2) Luke tells us...

There are many adoptive fathers and stepfathers who show their adopted/step-children great affection, even if they have children of their own later. In the absence of any evidence either way, let's give Joseph the benefit of the doubt. I think a far greater cause of family friction would have...

Samuel was in Sheol, where all the dead (righteous and wicked) went. As far as I can see, nobody goes to Hell/Gehenna until after the final judgement.

One of the problems is that the word 'hell' has changed its meaning. Centuries ago, it meant 'the common grave' - and so the KJV uses it to translate the Hebrew word 'Sheol' and the Greek word 'Hades'. These days, most people understand 'Hell' to be a place of suffering, the place of final...

Idolatry again (Numbers 25) Finally the Israelites come to the east bank of the River Jordan, on the border of the country of Moab and within a stone’s-throw of their goal. And at this point, at the very end of their long journey, they very nearly throw it all away. For those who could not be...

So now we know how scientists feel when they hear Christians talk authoritatively on subjects that they actually know very little about, and misrepresent or misunderstand the beliefs of their opponents.

Grumbling (Numbers 21:4-9) Now the Israelites are in the final stage of their prolonged journey. But it must seem to them as though they are never going to reach their destination! Within weeks, discouraged by the unusually arid terrain they are obliged to traverse, they are complaining again -...